Ranji Trophy: Shorey’s century takes Vidarbha to a position of strength

Dhruv Shorey’s patient century (168, 291b, 13x4, 1x6) pushed Vidarbha closer to victory on the third day of its Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match against Goa at the VCA Jamtha Stadium here. The host entered Wednesday trailing by three runs.

Danish Malewar (56, 108b, 6x4) edged the fifth ball of the day through the slips to propel it into the lead shortly before edging a pull to the ’keeper. With grey clouds overhead and the new ball in hand, Goa sensed an opportunity, but it was shut down by a mature partnership between Shorey and captain Akshay Wadkar (63 n.o., 129b, 3x4), who calmly saw off the first session.

Shorey looked in supreme control as he manoeuvered the ball around, and reached his ton just before lunch. The pair tried to up the ante and extend the advantage after the break, with Wadkar notching up his fifty before retiring hurt.

His departure brought Harsh Dubey to the crease, but before he could get going, the threat of rain almost brought the action to a halt, the players nearly leaving the field and returning immediately. That delay boosted Vidarbha’s urgency as Dubey belted Darshan Misal for a straight six in the over after resumption.

However, Dubey, Nachiket Bhute, and Parth Rekhade all fell to Ruthvik Naik when attempting to score quickly. Wadkar came back for a brief stay, but opted to declare the innings after Shorey was castled at the stroke of tea.

It left Goa facing a difficult final session, and Suyash Prabhudessai soon found himself back in the dugout after being trapped in front by Bhute. The visitors may have feared the worst at that point, but Manthan Khutkar and Abhinav Tejrana fought out the remainder of the day, stringing together an unbroken 113-ball partnership to give it a chance of salvaging a final-day draw.

Vidarbha — 1st innings: Satyam Bhoyar c Tari b Koushik 2, Aman Mokhade c Bhujbal b Ruthvik 39, R. Samarth c Bhujbal b Koushik 53, Dhruv Shorey b Misal 168, Danish Malewar c Bhujbal b Ruthvik 56, Akshay Wadkar (not out) 63, Harsh Dubey c (sub) b Ruthvik 22, Nachiket Bhute c (sub) b Ruthvik 4, Parth Rekhade c Prabhudessai b Ruthvik 4; Extras (b-17, lb-7, nb-1, w-6): 31; Total (for eight wkts.

decl. in 134.2 overs): 442. Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-66, 3-124, 4-225, 5-405, 6-424, 7-430, 8-442. Goa bowling: Koushik 25-10-42-2, Ruthvik 26-2-70-5, Tari 21-1-75-0, Kasvankar 16-0-69-0, Misal 31.2-1-109-1, Lalit 14-1-50-0, Prabhudessai 1-0-3-0.

Goa — 2nd innings: Suyash Prabhudessai lbw b Bhute 6, Manthan Khutkar (batting) 24, Abhinav Tejrana (batting) 8; Extras (lb-1, w-2): 3; Total (for one wkt. in 23 overs): 41. Vidarbha bowling: Bhute 5-2-4-1, Dubey 6-2-14-0, Yash Thakur 4-0-10-0, Rekhade 5-1-8-0, Gurbani 1-0-2-0, Mokhade 2-1-2-0.